21 September 2016 – Tobacco use is the leading global cause of preventable death. WHO attributes nearly 6 million deaths a year to tobacco. In response to the globalization of the tobacco epidemic, 191 Member States at the Fifty-sixth World Health Assembly in May 2003 adopted the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). This framework is the driving force behind and blueprint for the global response to the pandemic of tobacco-induced deaths and diseases. The treaty embodies a coordinated, effective, and urgent action plan to curb tobacco consumption and lays out cost-effective tobacco control strategies for public policies, such as banning direct and indirect tobacco advertising, increasing the tobacco tax and price, promoting smoke-free public places and workplaces, displaying prominent health messages on tobacco packaging, and conducting tobacco surveillance and research, and exchanging information.
The Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS) is a nationally representative school-based survey of students 13–15 years of age, using a consistent and standard protocol across countries. GYTS enhances countries’ capacity to monitor youth tobacco consumption and tobacco use initiation to guide national tobacco prevention and control programmes. The GYTS provides country-specific data on key tobacco indicators, including prevalence, knowledge, and behaviour.
In efforts to better target health and non-health intervention measures, WHO and the Ministry of Health conducted the GYTS for secondary school youths. Country-specific data on key tobacco indicators including prevalence, knowledge, and behaviour were analysed. 2080 students participated in the survey.
2014–2015 GYTS results pointed to a series of challenges facing Ministry of Health efforts to control tobacco use. The results indicated that 22% of students aged 13–15 years reported having ever smoked cigarettes (about half of them initiated cigarette smoking ≤ 11 years); 8.7% ever used smokeless tobacco; 5.7% currently smoked cigarettes; and 3.7% currently used smokeless tobacco. In addition, 16.4% reported they were likely to initiate cigarette smoking in the next year. Among surveyed students, 52% reported being exposed to smoke in public places and 41.1% reported that they were exposed at home.
About 60% of the students were in favour of banning smoking in enclosed public places. In response to questions regarding advertising, 68.5% of the students reported having seen any anti-cigarette media message during the preceding month; 47.5% had seen pro-cigarette advertising at point of sale locations. With regard to school curricula, 39.3% of students reported having been taught in school during the preceding year about the dangers of smoking. 65.4% of current smokers have tried to stop smoking in the past 12 months.
Youth in Iraq are still reporting being exposed to pro-smoking campaigns at an early age which is increasing prevalence of cigarette smoking and leading to higher susceptibility to begin smoking in the future. Controlling this exposure will reduce youth initiation of tobacco consumption through sustained political will to strengthen existing laws.
Tobacco advertising, promotion, and sponsorship bans are one of the most powerful tools that countries can adopt to protect their populations. Comprehensive prevention programmes are urgently needed like the primary prevention programmes through school education which target adolescents to help accelerate the reduction of youth smoking prevalence. A sharp reduction in smoking rates among youth will definitely reduce adult smoking prevalence in the future.
Tobacco impoverishes those who use it and puts an enormous financial burden on countries. The costs of tobacco use at the national level encompass increased health care costs and loss of productivity due to illness and environmental damage. The spread of the tobacco epidemic is facilitated through a variety of complex factors with cross-border effects, including trade liberalization and direct foreign investment.
Related link
Note: Current tobacco smokers = Smoked tobacco anytime during the past 30 days, current cigarette smoker =Smoked cigarettes anytime during the past 30 days. Frequent cigarette smoker = Smoked cigarettes on 20 or more days of the past 30 days. current smokers of other tobacco = Smoked tobacco other than cigarettes anytime during the past 30 days.
